Browsing by Author "Zhang, Weidong"

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    Development of Piezoelectric Energy Harvester System through Optimizing Multiple Structural Parameters
    Yang, Hailu; Wei, Ya; Zhang, Weidong; Ai, Yibo; Ye, Zhoujing; Wang, Linbing (MDPI, 2021-04-20)
    Road power generation technology is of significance for constructing smart roads. With a high electromechanical conversion rate and high bearing capacity, the stack piezoelectric transducer is one of the most used structures in road energy harvesting to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. To further improve the energy generation efficiency of this type of piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), this study theoretically and experimentally investigated the influences of connection mode, number of stack layers, ratio of height to cross-sectional area and number of units on the power generation performance. Two types of PEHs were designed and verified using a laboratory accelerated pavement testing system. The findings of this study can guide the structural optimization of PEHs to meet different purposes of sensing or energy harvesting.
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    Numerical Analysis of Signal Response Characteristic of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters Embedded in Pavement
    Yang, Hailu; Zhao, Qian; Guo, Xueli; Zhang, Weidong; Liu, Pengfei; Wang, Linbing (MDPI, 2020-06-18)
    Piezoelectric pavement energy harvesting is a technological approach to transform mechanical energy into electrical energy. When a piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) is embedded in asphalt pavements or concrete pavements, it is subjected to traffic loads and generates electricity. The wander of the tire load and the positioning of the PEH affect the power generation; however, they were seldom comprehensively investigated until now. In this paper, a numerical study on the influence of embedding depth of the PEH and the horizontal distance between a tire load and the PEH on piezoelectric power generation is presented. The result shows that the relative position between the PEH and the load influences the voltage magnitude, and different modes of stress state change voltage polarity. Two mathematic correlations between the embedding depth, the horizontal distance, and the generated voltage were fitted based on the computational results. This study can be used to estimate the power generation efficiency, and thus offer basic information for further development to improve the practical design of PEHs in an asphalt pavement.